The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (272 page)

 
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Assemblies of God
.

Christian denomination. It was organized in 1914 in Hot Springs, Arkansas, USA, from previously independent
Pentecostal
churches. It became the largest white Pentecostal body in the USA, with 1.4 million adherents in 10,000 autonomous congregations throughout the country.

 
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Assimilation
.

The process of so integrating with another culture that distinctive Jewish identity is lost. From biblical times, there has been a fear of Jews being assimilated into the pagan cultures of the surrounding nations, and early Christianity is seen by some Jewish communities as a process of assimilation of the early Jewish Christians into a
gentile
mode of life. Since the second half of the 18th cent., assimilation has been a serious threat to the continued existence of Judaism and the Jewish people. Thus the modern community is increasingly polarized between the almost completely assimilated and those who are affirming their Jewish character more strongly than ever.

 
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Association For Research and Enlightenment
.

A movement founded in Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA, in 1931 by the so-called ‘sleeping prophet’, Edgar
Cayce
, and continued under Hugh Lynn Cayce, son of the founder. It is characterized by religious tolerance, holistic health practices, metaphysical teachings, and effective marketing techniques. The ARE, with its occult practices, shares with many other New Age groups a belief in reincarnation, parapsychology, astrology, Atlantis, and novel interpretations of Christianity, such as the belief that Jesus travelled to India, Tibet, and Egypt for training.

 
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Assumption of the Virgin Mary
.

The Christian belief that
Mary
was taken body and soul into heaven at the end of her life. The doctrine first emerged in various New Testament
apocrypha
of the 4th cent., and on the strength of a passage in pseudo-
Dionysius
became accepted in orthodox circles by the 7th cent. Finally in 1950 Pope
Pius XII
, in the decree
Munificentissimus Deus
, defined it as a divinely revealed dogma. In Orthodox Churches, the belief is generally held but with less precise definition. Feast day in the W., 15 Aug.

 
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Assyrian Church
.

A name used since the 19th cent. for the
Church
of the East. It became popular especially in
Anglican
circles as a way of avoiding the name
Nestorian
, which was disliked by the Syrians themselves and appeared to prejudge their orthodoxy.

 
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